Wine Tastings Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – New Jersey
Publisher: Kensington (December 1, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
ISBN-10: 1496723392
ISBN-13: 978-1496723390
Kindle ASIN: B085LTRQ3P
It’s vintage Poppy McAllister when the gluten-free baker and B&B owner tries to solve a murder at a Cape May winery . . .
When Poppy and Aunt Ginny agreed to host a Wine and Cheese Happy Hour for a tour group at their Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast on the Jersey Shore, they never anticipated such a sour bunch. Grumpy guest Vince Baker should be in a better mood—he’s filthy rich and on his honeymoon with his much younger wife Sunny, who seems to dote on him almost as much as her high-spirited teacup Pomeranian, Tammy Faye Baker.
But the honeymoon is over when Vince drops dead the next day touring the Laughing Gull Winery. Turns out he’s been poisoned, and it seems like everybody on the tour is hiding something. Now Poppy has to put her gluten-free baking on the back burner and bottle up her feelings for the two men in her life while she charges after a bitter killer with a lethal case of sour grapes . . .
Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Poppy McAllister is back along with her Aunt Ginny. Their B&B is open and they are hosting a Wine and Cheese Happy Hour for a tour group. The members of the group are staying at various B&B’s, one couple is even staying at a campground in their RV. Vince and Sunny Baker along with her Pomeranian, Tammy Faye are staying at Poppy’s Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast. They are later joined by Vince’s daughter and her husband when they unexpectedly crash the party and join the tour. They are not happy with Vince’s new wife and make their displeasure clearly known.
The next day the tour group travels to the Laughing Gull Winery. In the middle of the tasting, Vince keels over dead. At first, everyone thinks he had a heart attack but the man was definitely poisoned and everyone in the room becomes a suspect. With one of her guests dead, Poppy adds catch a killer to her long to-do list. Wait! Could the killer be under her roof as well?
OMG! I laughed so hard several times while reading this book, One time I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. My funny bone was thoroughly tickled time and again.
Victory emerged from Aunt Ginny’s bedroom at the back of the kitchen wearing a low-cut French maid costume with thigh-high stockings.
Sawyer came in just in time to see me choke on my coffee. “Whoa!” Sawyer giggled and had to cover her mouth. “Oh, Poppy. That is so much better than I imagined.”
Aunt Ginny emerged behind Victory with a genuine feather duster in her hand. “Look it fits her. What? Why are you making that face?”
and
“The Bible says: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Aunt Ginny folded her arms across her chest and tried to stare me down.
“That’s not the Bible. That’s Spider-Man.”
Aunt Ginny narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure? I think it’s in the Bible.”
“Not unless there’s a chapter written by Stan Lee.”
Those are just two of my favorite scenes. There are many more.
Beyond the humor, Ms. Klein serves us such wonderful characters. Libby and her Aunt Ginny are two of my favorite cozy personalities. You never know what is going to come out of Ginny’s mouth or the antics she and her friends are going to get into. Think Golden Girls on steroids!
Poppy is still trying to decide between Gia and Tim while baking for each of their restaurants, running the B&B, trying to keep Ginny in line, and now investigating another murder. She gets stronger in each story. Her sleuthing is improving too.
All the supporting characters are developing nicely. The new characters that are introduced are quite a crew. All seem to be hiding something. They were all very well-crafted. The pet characters are great too! Figuro may have met his match!
The mystery to solve was so much fun with a plethora of twists and turns. To avoid spoilers I won’t say more but the big reveal was epic and a total surprise. I loved it!!
This entire series is fantastic. I anxiously await each new book. Wine Tastings Are Murder
Wine Tastings Are Murder
Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent
You can read my review of Midnight Snacks Are Murder here.
You can read my review of Restaurant Weeks Are Murder
You can read my review of Theater Nights Are Murder
Coming June 29, 2021
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”